Yellakd foreman



UNITED STATESl PATENT FFICEa YELLAND FOREMAN, OF NE\V YORK, N. Y.

LIFE-BOAT.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 10,120, dated October l1, 1853.

sists in constructing the frames, or hulls, or,

as it may be considered, the shells, or sheathing, as well as the seatsof boats,-especially j those known as life boats,-entirely, or nearlyso, of metallic tubes; whereby I give to such boa-ts a large amount ofsafety distributed, or insulated buoyant power, and at the same timeobtain the utmost amount of interior space for .stoiagef7 and greaterstrength, stiffness, &c., combined with the buoyancy mentioned thancould be obtained from any other mode of construction even by a largeaddition to the weight of metal employed, and a consequent seriousincrease of cost,

To enable others to construct boats on the plan I have invented I willmore fully describe the same, reference being had to the drawingaccompanying, and making part of this specification, wherein- Figure lrepresents a perspective view of my metallic tubular life boat, with aportion of the tubes, amidships broken away- Fig. 2 a midship section ofthe body of such boat-and Fig. 3 a section of the tubular seat, alsoshown in perspective in Fig. l.

Like letters of reference denote like parts in all the figures.

The tubes being formed up of any desirable metal, in the usual manner,or rolled, or drawn to a suitable length, their ends are either gored,flattened, and brazedi, 'or soldered, at the joints thus formedortapered, by slitting the same, and brazing, &c., the joint, or sea-1n;or otherwise by a process for tapering well known to the manufacturersof tubing, not necessary here to describe, and this portion of the workbeing properly completed the tubes are thereby rendered air tight. Thetubes being now bent and molded to suit their respective positions inthe body of the boat, the adj oining andh appropriate extremities ofevery pair as at X, X', may be connected and permanently held togetherby welding, brazing, &c., and so on with each pair of tubes composingevery lstroke-and a model or mold-of the boat to be builtmof suitabledimensions, &c., being now laid, gunwale down, the appropriate strakesare lifted and let down over the same, until the entire tubular body ofmy metallic boat is measurably formed. All of the tubes may now be heldtemporarily but securely together by clamps, adapted to the form of theboat, and, thus fastened, may now be lifted off from the mold mentioned,and the respective extremities, at the stem and stern, of every strakeflas X, X', permanently bound and held, each to the other, by welding (ifof iron) at a suitable heat.

The longitudinal seams, as at Y, Y, may now be thoroughly closed, andthe tubes cz, a, fastened and confined to each other by brazing orsoft-soldering, the former of which may be effected very rapidly over asuitable forge or furnace, and, perhaps, preferable to the latter, forreasons of greater economy and strength, yielded with a less weight ofmetallic fastening. v

The entire hull of the boat being now completed, in the mannerexplained, so far as the tubes are concerned, the clamps or temporaryfastenings may be reinoved,--and a keel, and stem and stern pieces,swaged, or otherwise shaped, from suitable sheet metal, being nowappropriately placed, are there fastened to the tubular body of theboatthe former by brazing, or soldering, and the latter (spanning theextremities of the tubes or strakes) by riveting through all, suitablerivet-holes. being previously punched for that purpose.

I may observe that where welding is impracticable, from the nature ofthe metal composing the tubes, the necessary fastening will be obtainedby riveting, &c., as before explained,

The manner of placing and fastening the remaining fixtures of a boatbeing very simple, and such as likely to occur to any personconstructing the body of my tubular boat, is not necessary herein todescribe, with the exception of the tubular seats. These last, composedof three or more tubes of suitable length, oined laterally by brazing orsoldering, and made air tight at thel ends, would thereat be providedwith one or more hooks, which would be inserted in suitable eyes, brazedor otherwise fastened on the inside of the boat, so that such seatscould be readily detached from the latter, and (having, according totheir size, a net buoyancy capable of sustaining one or more persons inthe water) made quickly available as life buoys, in any contingencycalling for such.

The boat being thus advisably and practically built, will be perceivedto possess extraordinary merits.

By the plan I have invented I am enabled to employ-over any other,-aless weight of metal, because it has the form of greatest strength andstiffness, as a cylindrical tube or tubes, (although other than acylindrical cross-section of tubes might be desirable in some cases) andby the device of a homogeneous and continuous fastening', mutuallybinding, supporting, and bracing my tubular boat in all its parts, andas a whole, any framework, as ribs, or fretlocks, is avoided, and so thelargest amount of net buoyancy is obtained: while the distribution ofthat buoyant power throughout the 20, 30, or 40 metallic tub-es,composing the hull or body of my boat, gives the latter a vastsuperiority and safety over any other plan, and .which may again beimmensely increased by dividing each tube (in itself a distinct airchamber) into numerous air tight compartments, which may be effected byinserting, atthe time of making such tube, a number of metallic, wood,or even elastic disks, or diaphragms, at proper and frequent intervals;and the boat thus constructed and arranged, it is evident that fractureof any one or more tubes will only have deprived my boat of a smallfraction of its net buoyancy.

Having thus sufliciently described the operation of manufacturing mymetallic tubular life boat, I will state that I am aware that attemptshave been made to give to boats large buoyant power by the employment ofmetallic chambers, cylinders, &c.: but these have always been introducedas extraneous, and so many excrescences to the same, and adding inthemselves largely to the weight of such boat, without yielding a percontra of strength: and moreover, by their bulk, contingent on themethod of using them, detracting largely from the stowage and carryingcapacity of such vessel, beside adding greatly to its cost.

I am also aware that flexible boats have been constructed in which tubeshave been employed, and running from stem to stern, formed (I believe)by crimping two or more sheets of elastic cloth, and joining the planesurfaces of the latter by an elastic gum or otherwise, leaving thecrimped convexities outward,-thus giving a series of flexible tubes, orchambers, which to meet the purpose of their application had afterwardto be inflated, through valves, or cocks inserted in them, by bellows,&c.

The weight, valuable space occupied, and cost of the first methodmentioned,-and the perishability of material, want of reliability, andthe very flexibility of the second, have proved almost physicalobjections to the use of either, and both are now virtually abandoned.

Both plans are widely and distinctly different from the one I haveinvented and described, in which lhat I claim, and desire to Secure byLetters Patent of the United States, is

l. Constructing the body of my life boat wholly of metallic tubes,brazed or similarly united throughout, thus aording a watertight andsolid metallic connection, and mutual bracing of every part, as shown;whereby are attained the objects explained in a compact and generallyadvantageous manner.

2. I further claim in combination with such boat, the detachable,tubular, seat as described.

YELLAND FOREMAN.

Titnesses BENJ. COLLINS, HENRY B. RENWICK.

